We would like to invite all to our next Prayer and Praise evening that we are holding on Monday 31st March at Chessington Evangelical Church. It will be a great opportunity to get together and thank God for all that he has been doing through The Besom and to pray for the future of The Besom in Esher and nationally. (Please note change of date)
When: Monday 31st March 7.45pm
Where: Chessington Evangelical Church, Kings Centre, Coppard Gardens, Chessington, KT9 2GZ
The 2014 Besom Conference is being held in Egham and hosted by The Besom in Runnymede. The conference is for anyone from a church who would like to see more of its members become actively involved with the poor and the excluded in their local area and further afield. This includes church leaders, Alpha leaders, key lay leaders, those with a passion for the poor, youth and student leaders, pastoral staff, those already involved in social action and anyone wanting to get more involved with the poor.
Several members from The Besom in Esher will be attending the conference so if you are interested in coming along please do get in touch.
UPDATE: Please pray for the Egham area where the conference is to be held which has been hit badly by recent floods. Additionally part of the venue for the conference on 15th March has had to be closed due to the drains flooding! Please pray for this venue to be opened and back to normal ‘duties’ asap. It houses a local pre school nursery on weekdays and this is tough for families who have now had to move into tiny temporary accommodation.
Sunday 26th January is The Besom National Day of Prayer. Please join us in praying for the work of The Besom both locally and across the UK. Please see below some things you can join with us in thanking God for as well as some prayer requests.
Thanksgiving
– for the financial provision in 2013 for purchasing a replacement van
– for regular meeting space and a computer at Esher Green Baptist Church
– new time-givers on the van
– for clients we have been able to bless over the past year and at christmas through the hampers project
– all those who have given through The Besom
Needs
– strengthening of the core team by adding members from supporter churches
– God to release resources (time givers, skills givers, goods, financial donations towards running costs)
– for the core team to continue to bridge-build, ie for growing trusted links with professional referring agencies in Elmbridge, and
– for more churches in Elmbridge, particularly Walton and Molesey to catch the vision and get involved
Nationally
– for God to supply all the needs of the established Besoms across the UK
– for new Besoms to start up and emerging Besoms to become firmly established
– for renewed vision
– for great attendance and fruitfulness at the National Conference in Egham in March.
Thank you for your input into and support for The Besom in Esher.
The Besom Team
About a month ago, a small group from Chessington church took part in a gardening project for a single Mum and her daughter. The garden was extremely overgrown with brambles, long grass and weeds so in the sunny, sticky weather the team got going! It was certainly hard work, but the team made good progress with the brilliant lawn mower and shears. We were interrupted by a few rain showers but this gave us an opportunity to have a good chat with Jane* and play with her daughter. Praise God for keeping us safe and enabling us to clear the garden, despite our small numbers. We also got on so well with Jane* and her little girl and are looking forward to going back soon to tackle the front garden. It’s such a joy for the team to know that because of God’s provision, Jane* and her daughter will be able to enjoy the garden over the summer.
Last weekend the small group returned to Jane’s*, this time to clear her front garden. It was a very warm day, but Jane* kindly kept the team going with ice pops and cold drinks. Thank God for many answers to prayer: that he kept the team safe and gave us the energy to do the garden in soaring temperatures. It was wonderful to see her already making use if the back garden with a play house and paddling pool for her daughter and one of our team gave the back garden hedge a few finishing touches!
(*name changed for privacy reasons)
Another great van run this Saturday. Along with a Time Giver we delivered some amazing starter packs, that had been produced by one of our regular givers, to a woman Tina* and her children who have just moved into a new property after fleeing from domestic violence.
Tina* was really grateful for the items in the starter pack. We also asked if there was anything else she needed which we could pray for and she said it would be great to have a toaster (very useful when you have growing children). We prayed and emailed the rest of the core team with an update asking them to pray for a toaster, only to receive a reply later that day from one of the core team who had been offered a brand new Pink Toaster by a giver from their church!
Such a great reminder that God does care about the little things and how good it is to demonstrate his love by meeting peoples needs in a practical way. We’re looking forward to delivering the pink toaster to Tina* this week!
(* name changed for privacy reasons.)
A second van run in as many weeks and this time to deliver a lovely pink child’s bed to a recipient in Molesey. We had been offered the bed last year but didn’t have a recipient for it immediately, we wondered why God had not found a home for it. But after lots of prayer we passed it onto a family with a girl who needed it in an emergency as she had nothing to sleep on. Although a little small for her it was a real blessing as a temporary solution until we swapped it a few months ago for a larger bed. We then prayed for a new home for the little pink bed which was graciously answered, so a team of two set out last Saturday to deliver and construct the bed. Despite only simple DIY skills, the bed was delivered and put together successfully and it was great to see the little girl’s excitement at her new bed. Once again, a very blessed van run and much to thank God for. Not least a little pink bed that keeps on blessing!
